Diametric Symmetry
by Andromakhe
Summary: This is a companion piece to "Balance." Leo and Karai express their visions of love with gifts.
1. Inspiration

Disclaimer: I'm not claiming ownership of TMNT.

A/N: This is a companion piece to chapter 26 of my fic, "Balance." It's set within the week after that fic ends. For die-hard Leo/Karai shippers. I recommend listening to "You've Got a Way" by Shania Twain or at least looking up the lyrics. The fic may have more impact if you at least know what that song says. Fluff and some OOCness ahead, but that's par for the course with romance.

Leo sat at his desk, earbuds against his head. His door was shut but not locked. Having finished morning training with the family and showered, he had free time until lunch. He decided to listen to the song Karai had suggested by Shania Twain called "You've Got a Way." It supposedly expressed what she felt about him perfectly. Tracking it down easily, he started it playing and sat back in his chair, taking in the guitars and jazzy drums. As he took in the lyrics, his heart grew fuller and fuller of love until his eyes began watering. He understood now why she couldn't speak the words, why she'd asked him to hear them sung. He didn't know what to do with the raw overflow of sentiment. It was then someone knocked on his door. He wiped at his eyes and took his earbuds out, answering the door as he put them on his desk.

"Hey, Leo," Mikey said happily. "Ya wanna play…" He faltered when he noted Leo's eyes. "Leo," he said in concern, "what's wrong, bro?"

"Nothing," Leo said hoarsely, his tone flat as his lips smiled.

"Sending mix signals, bro. Trying to pretend everything's fine, I bet, but how can you be happy when you've clearly been crying? That blinding powder excuse isn't gonna work this time."

Leo laughed genuinely.

Mikey blinked in confusion. "I'm serious, bro. I'm not falling for it." He carefully wrapped his arms around Leo, who laughed again and held Mikey close and patted his shell kindly.

"I'm indescribably happy. I promise you. Absolutely nothing's wrong. Things couldn't be better for me right at this second. Your concern for me is icing on the cake. Thank you."

Mikey let go of Leo and stepped back to look at him better. Leo looked back steadily, and Mikey smiled, satisfied. "Why so happy? I mean, I'm not complaining. Just…I don't usually see you this open."

"Karai," Leo said simply.

"Maybe romance is worth it with that kind of high," Mikey said thoughtfully.

"I'd say it is. I hope one day, you find someone who'll love you just as fiercely, just as deeply, as I've found. You deserve nothing less, because you give that to others so freely."

"Awww," Mikey crooned, grinning. "Was gonna ask if ya wanted to play cards."

Leo frowned awkwardly. "Not this time, Mikey. I need to make something. Won't be able to relax until I've finished it."

Mikey's eyes dimmed, but he nodded. "Okay," he said in disappointment.

"I'm sorry. I still love you guys, you know."

Mikey smiled sadly. "I know. How long do you think your project'll take?"

"Oh…a day or two, probably. Not more than half a week."

Mikey went still, preparing to only see Leo for meals and training for a few days. Deciding he could handle it, he touched Leo's forearm in reassurance. "You promise to come spend time with us as soon as you're done with it?"

Leo considered, then shook his head. "Not right away. I have to do something with it first. Though I won't have to work on it all the time. I can socialize with you guys during breaks."

Mikey smiled happily. "Okay. See you for lunch.".

"See you." Mikey walked away and Leo dressed to go out with his usual equipment and his cane.

Stopping in the living room, Leo saw there was a big bowl of chips on the floor within easy reach of everyone there. Everyone was either eating, talking, or watching TV. The card game looked to be abandoned for the moment. Splinter and Karai had gone to meditate in the woods. Leo remembered this from training. The rest of the family was looking at Leo expectantly. "Going out looking for wood," he announced. "Not a lot. Just a few suitable branches. Feel like carving. If I'm not back by lunch, start worrying."

"Got it," Raph acknowledged.

"I'll help Raph look for you, if it comes to that," Casey offered.

"Hey, I'm coming, too," Mikey said.

Donnie said he'd stay with April and keep an eye on things at home, while April said she'd try to find the family with her telepathy and meditation.

That settled, Leo left the house and began looking for branches, testing suitable candidates with Karai's knife. He needed wood that was flexible enough to bend and soft enough to carve, but durable enough to take some rough treatment. He had a couple branches he thought would work when he found Karai and Splinter. They had found a clearing that was shaded and were talking.

Leo crept close, as quietly as he could, and heard Karai speculating that Shen would have liked Leo. Splinter agreed, saying she would have appreciated his skill and his honor. Karai told Splinter she was simultaneously frustrated by Leo's responsibility and deeply respectful of his conviction. He knew who he was and was not willing to compromise that just to gain someone's approval. Again, Splinter agreed, reminding Karai gently that Leo had been raised to be responsible. He always had his brothers to look out for and now he had to protect them as well as April and Casey. He could not afford to have a lapse in judgment just for frivolity or selfish gain. Leo saw Karai acknowledge that statement, looking kind of guilty.

Leo tapped on the trunk of a tree with his cane. Splinter smiled. "Leonardo," he acknowledged. "I wondered when you'd say hello."

Karai turned abruptly and found Leo partially behind a tree. Clearly, he'd been behind it for a while. "Honing your eavesdropping skills, huh?" Karai asked sassily.

"Sort of," Leo admitted sheepishly. "I didn't want to interrupt anything important or potentially awkward. I needn't have worried. Just passing through, anyway."

"We were planning to head home soon anyway," Karai put in. "What are you doing with those branches?" It was then she caught sight of her knife, currently in a leather sheath hanging from his belt.

"Oh. Just testing these. Am thinking of making something." Leo was glad he managed to say it so casually. "I'm taking extras for testing purposes. My first tries aren't always perfect."

"Wow. So you're creative after all," she teased.

"Sometimes," Leo answered matter-of-factly. "I'd better carry on. I'd like a few more sticks."

"Hey. Whenever you're done with whatever it is, can you show me?"

Leo smiled. "I'd be happy to. See you back at home. I should be there for lunch."

"Goodbye for now, my son," Splinter said warmly. "Remember to be careful and pay attention to surroundings," he added sternly.

"Hai, Sensei," Leo bowed.

Karai waved and Leo went on his way, successfully gathering enough wood to practice with and making it home safely. Splinter and Karai were already there. After lunch, Leo set to work.


	2. Promises

The first order of business was to clean the branches. Leo submerged them in a mix of water and bleach to disinfect them. Since he couldn't work on them for an hour or two, he spent time with the family in the living room.

April told him Karai had left the house again, apparently in search of wood. He told the group how he'd run into her and Sensei while looking for his branches and wondered aloud whether she whittled. No one knew for sure. They played some rounds of Go Fish for a while, TV serving as background noise while Leo, April, Donnie, and Mikey munched on nuts and dried fruit. When they got tired of that, Mikey began play-fighting with Leo on the floor while Raph and Casey wrestled. Donnie and April were watching a documentary. When it finished, they excused themselves to Donnie's lab, Leo went to begin his project, Raph and Casey changed the channel on TV and stayed there, and Mikey went upstairs to his room, getting lost in a single-player RPG. Splinter was upstairs in April and Karai's room, napping.

Leo cleared his desk of everything, spreading some newspaper on it to try to contain the majority of the mess he'd make. He stripped the branches of their bark and shaved them so that one side was flat while the rest remained rounded. He taped each branch to the newspaper so they were vertical, with the flat side up. And he began engraving. He did the same things to a few branches, just so that he wasn't putting all his eggs in one basket.

First, he wrote the Japanese character for honor. Then, he drew two blades that pointed in opposite directions and intersected precisely in the middle to form an X. Finally, he etched the Hamato symbol, a lotus. The end result was that each blade pointed to each symbol. The blades took up most of each broad branch, but the characters on either side were big enough to recognize easily.

Leo took special care with the blades. They were both long and narrow, but one had a straight edge and was slightly curved at the tip while the other was serrated and completely straight.

He soaked the carved branches in water for a couple days, hiding them under his desk. When the wood was soft enough, he carefully bent the branches to form a circle. One of them broke. The engravings on one of the remaining branches were slightly off center. But the last one was just as he envisioned. His leftover branches were added to the family's firewood supply.

He sanded the wood as smooth as he could. The outside of the branch was unadorned. He painted it white to match Karai's coloring and glued the ends together, putting the finished product in his desk drawer to dry.

Karai, meanwhile, cut a block of wood from a log she'd found. She shaped the wood into a round ouroboros, a serpent biting its tail. On the inside of the hoop she'd created, she engraved a simple inscription in English. On the outside, she carved scales that went around the snake's body. The head was in profile. She sanded it and covered it with glue, making its texture smooth and giving the wood some protection. The wood itself was a dark brown. She left it natural, imperfections and all.

The entire process took about half a week. Some of that time was just soaking the wood in water to soften it enough to bend, and some of it was to dry it completely to set. But finally, the day arrived that both Leo and Karai were waiting for.

Once again, it was mid-morning and Leo was sitting at his desk. He'd stashed his creation in his belt, suddenly nervous. What if Karai didn't like it, or worse, was disappointed. It wasn't fancy, after all, even if the messages he'd written were heartfelt and deep.

Karai, too, wasn't sure if she should give Leo her gift. Now she thought about it, she was afraid it looked sloppy or lazy. Maybe she should have painted it. Or maybe she should have said more. But it was too late to change anything. She put her bracelet in her belt and rapped on Leo's door firmly. Better at least pretend to be confident.

Leo took a deep breath. It was now or never, apparently. He answered the door, patting it almost sympathetically. "Karai, what did the door ever do to you?" Leo laughed.

"It was in my way," Karai hissed, managing to exaggerate her annoyance and convey it even in such a voice.

"Well, I moved it. Come on in," Leo invited with a flick of his wrist.

Karai shut the door behind her, locking it. She didn't want people barging in without permission, not for such an important occasion.

Leo pulled his chair away from his desk, sitting on it as Karai supported herself on her coils and draped some of them across Leo's thighs. Her upper body was far enough away to converse easily.

"So, Leo. You've been avoiding me," Karai accused. "Why?"

"That's not true. We train together, meditate together and with Sensei, sometimes with the others. We hang out together with the rest of the family. No. Not avoiding you."

"No. Those things don't count. We haven't gotten much time to ourselves. A couple days ago, I barely saw you. You just stayed here and only came out for meals. Working on that project? It was that important?"

Leo nodded firmly. "It was that important. It had to be perfect. I had to try a few times to get it just so."

Karai went quiet, worried. She'd only used one block of wood. She'd been looking for a specific color, but was confident she had enough skill to do what she'd planned right the first time. She nodded slowly. "I made something, too, but I didn't go to so much trouble. So maybe it won't be as good as yours."

"Well, it doesn't matter, right? As long as you like it."

"I value your opinion," Karai said simply. "Especially because you shape wood, too."

"All that matters is that it has meaning for you. If you mean for it to be a gift, it should still convey something of yourself. Otherwise, it is just a dead carving, right? The way I see it, if it means something to you, it will mean something to whoever you're giving it to."

"It might not work that way," Karai said sadly. "Because a gift can be special to one person and the receiver can totally miss the point or decide they don't like the meaning. Heck, the receiver can decide there is no meaning. It's not like just because you intended to convey something, it'll be agreed on."

Leo conceded the point. "Yes. I suppose there's no guarantee any meaning will be ascribed to a gift. That is disheartening. Still, why make something if it means nothing to you? Hardly worth the effort in that case."

"True," Karai agreed.

Neither Leo nor Karai moved or spoke for a few moments. Then Leo shrugged and fished out his bracelet, letting it dangle from his fingers while he took one of Karai's hands in his and met her eyes. "Karai, I listened to that song you suggested. It is beautiful. I understood why you asked me to listen to it rather than merely reading the lyrics. I wanted to make this for you, so you'd always know what our love means to me. I know it's not fancy, but it's sincere."

Karai grasped the bracelet carefully between the jaws of one hand and Leo let go. Bending her wrist left and right, she saw the etchings on the inside. She smiled at the blades. "Can't forget knives and swords," she chuckled. "Honor I understand. But is the lotus the Hamato crest or do you mean it for love and spirituality?"

Leo smiled. "I meant it to mean family, yes, but love and purity of spirit actually works, too. I hadn't considered that. I made the blades that way to signify not only ninjutsu but also compromise, a reminder that even though we are individuals and may disagree, there is a point at which we are the same. Separate, but joined."

"An important thing to remember. Honor, compromise, and family. Yes, that sounds like you."

Leo squeezed her hand, steady and firm. She put the bracelet on one of Leo's legs, then slid her hand through it and let it slide onto her arm. The fit was snug, perfect. She'd be able to move without the circlet sliding around, but she could easily remove it when necessary.

Karai held out the serpent she'd made. Leo's eyebrows rose curiously as he took it between his fingers and turned it this way and that. "A snake eating its tail?" Leo asked. "That is a symbol of life and death, I think. It is a harmony between binaries, not either or but both. This definitely feels like you." Leo chuckled. "Hamato Karai. Karai and Miwa. What did you mean by this?"

"You pretty much got it," Karai said. "I chose this shape because I wanted to remind you that I'm always with you, even when I'm not. And I loved you, hated you, and loved you again. Did you see the inscription?"

"No." Leo found it on the inside of the bracelet: 'I love you just the way you are.' He smiled, then stared down at Karai's coils in his lap, blinking back tears.

"Leo?" Karai asked worriedly.

Karai saw Leo's hand tremble as he slid the bracelet slowly on his right arm. He slid it all the way to his upper arm. His fit perfectly, too. Then he gathered Karai against his chest and kissed her mouth, a tear or two escaping his eyes. Karai wiped them away gently, flicking her tongue over his lips. She felt Leo shudder under her. "Thank you," he whispered. "Now I'll never forget."

Karai wrapped herself around him and squeezed firmly. "Love and honor. That's what I told you. It's what you taught me. It is the way I will always strive to treat you. I know I won't always succeed, but with you, I know the effort will count."

Leo glanced at his bracelet, at how the wood had not been painted, only covered with a kind of armor. The wood had been given as itself. Leo knew what Karai was saying. "I will strive to love all of you - flaws and virtues. I will remember who you were and who you are. I know I won't always succeed, but you are the Karai I love because of your past."

Leo pushed his chair under his desk and spread his mattress on the floor, lying on it beside Karai. Curling together, entwined in each other's embrace, the two partners sealed their pledges with loving kisses and intimate caresses. Eventually they fell asleep, Karai protectively encircling Leo like the ouroboros around his arm while Leo draped an arm over one of Karai's in a possessive and intimate way.


End file.
